Tag Archives: Memorial Day weekend

U.S. drivers to get hit by soaring pump prices over Memorial Day holiday

By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. motorists will see the highest gasoline prices in seven years when they hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer driving season, as fuel demand surges alongside coronavirus vaccination rates.

Retail gasoline prices are at about $3.04 a gallon on average nationwide, the most expensive since 2014, data from the American Automobile Association showed.

And after a year of lockdowns to curb the coronavirus pandemic, tens of millions of American road-trippers are expected to be stung by those prices: More than 34 million Americans are expected to take to the highways between May 27 and May 31, AAA expects, an increase of 53% from last year but still down 10% from 2019.

“Ahead of Memorial Day, gas demand is expected to rise as more Americans take to the roads for trips that may have been delayed or avoided because of the pandemic,” said Devin Gladden, AAA spokesperson.

U.S. gasoline demand is running at about 9.48 million barrels per day, the highest since March 2020, when U.S. officials began widely restricting travel, Energy Information Administration data showed.

Pump prices had already gotten a boost earlier this month after a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline, the nation’s largest fuel pipeline, shut the system for days and stopped fuel supplies from moving across the United States.

Motorists fearing a longer outage raced to gas stations to fill up their tanks, emptying at one point more than 16,000 stations across states such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Around 6,000 gas stations were still without fuel this week, according to tracking firm GasBuddy.

“This is still due to the Colonial outage recovery, plus high demand, making it hard for stations to get back on top of things,” said GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Minnesota, Virginia join U.S. states easing COVID-19 restrictions

By Barbara Goldberg

(Reuters) – The governors of two more U.S. states said on Thursday they were lifting most restrictions that were put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus after sharp drops in infection rates and deaths.

Both Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam unveiled plans for easing or even completely erasing limits, saying all changes were hinged on vaccination numbers going up, which has helped to diminish COVID-19 case numbers.

Northam said Virginia would lift all restrictions on June 15, except for a mask mandate.

“If our COVID case numbers keep trending down and our vaccination numbers keep going up, we plan to lift our mitigation measures, capacity restrictions and social distancing requirements,” Northam told a news conference.

Walz unveiled a timeline to end all COVID-19 restrictions, saying limits on seating at entertainment venues, including outdoor stadiums, could be gone by Memorial Day weekend at the end of this month.

All limits will end by July 1, or sooner if 70% of Minnesota residents older than 16 get vaccinated, Walz said.

The increased freedoms in Minnesota and Virginia were disclosed just days after New York, New Jersey and Connecticut revealed on Monday that the tri-state area on May 19 would start lifting most coronavirus capacity restrictions on businesses, including retail stores, food services and gyms.

In sharing the good news, all of the governors stressed that a spike in COVID-19 cases could upend those plans. Infections have been declining in the United States as more people get vaccinated.

With 47,166 daily new infections reported on average, the United States is now 19% below a Jan 7 peak, according to data compiled by Reuters.

“Vaccines are working. They’re helping reduce the spread of this disease,” Northam said. “Fewer people e getting sick, fewer people are going into the hospital.”

Virginia’s face mask mandate was part of a state of emergency declared during the pandemic. It is due to expire on June 30, although Northam could extend it if there is a COVID-19 surge, officials said.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)